Hejaz Expeditionary Force

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Hejaz Expeditionary Force
Hicaz Kuvve-i Seferiyesi
The camel corps at Beersheba2.jpg
Ottoman camel riders of the 1st Hecinsüvar Regiment, which took part in First Suez Offensive before the establishing of the Hejaz Expeditionary Force
Active 1916 – 9 January 1919 [1]
CountryFlag of the Ottoman Empire.svg  Ottoman Empire
BranchFlag of the Ottoman Empire.svg  Ottoman Army
Type Expeditionary Force
Garrison/HQ Medina
Patron Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Engagements Arab Revolt (World War I)
Siege of Medina
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Ferik Fahreddin Pasha

The Hejaz Expeditionary Force (Turkish : Hicaz Kuvve-i Seferiyesi) of the Ottoman Empire was one of the expeditionary forces of the Ottoman Army. Its commander had the authority of an army commander. It was formed during World War I for the defense of Medina (located in the region known as the Hejaz).

Turkish language Turkic language (possibly Altaic)

Turkish, also referred to as Istanbul Turkish, is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around ten to fifteen million native speakers in Southeast Europe and sixty to sixty-five million native speakers in Western Asia. Outside Turkey, significant smaller groups of speakers exist in Germany, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Northern Cyprus, Greece, the Caucasus, and other parts of Europe and Central Asia. Cyprus has requested that the European Union add Turkish as an official language, even though Turkey is not a member state.

Ottoman Empire Former empire in Asia, Europe and Africa

The Ottoman Empire, historically known in Western Europe as the Turkish Empire or simply Turkey, was a state that controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia and North Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries. It was founded at the end of the 13th century in northwestern Anatolia in the town of Söğüt by the Oghuz Turkish tribal leader Osman I. After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans, the Ottoman beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror.

Expeditionary warfare is the deployment of a state's military to fight abroad, especially away from established bases. Expeditionary forces were in part the antecedent of the modern concept of rapid deployment forces. Traditionally, expeditionary forces were essentially self-sustaining with an organic logistics capability and with a full array of supporting arms.

Fahreddin Pasha was appointed to the commander of the Hejaz Expeditionary Force on 17 July 1916. [2] The principal unit of this force, the Medina garrison itself. And the Hejaz Expeditionary Force consisted of 14,000 men by the fall of 1916. [3]

Fakhri Pasha Turkish general and diplomat

Fakhri Pasha or Fahreddin Pasha, known as Ömer Fahrettin Türkkan after the Surname Law of 1934, was the commander of the Ottoman Army and governor of Medina from 1916 to 1919. He was nicknamed "The Lion of the Desert" and "The Tiger of the Desert" by the British and Arabs for his patriotism in Medina and is known for defending Medina in the Siege of Medina during World War I.

Order of battle

In 1916, the Hejaz Expeditionary Force was structured as follows: [4]

Ferik was a military rank of the Ottoman Army. It is translated as Lieutenant General (Korgeneral). It was senior to a Mirliva and junior to a Birinci Ferik.

Sources

  1. ↑ David Murphy, (Illustrated by Peter Dennis), The Arab Revolt 1916-18: Lawrence Sets Arabia Ablaze, Osprey Publishing, 2008, p. 81.
  2. ↑ Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, Osmanlı Askerlik Literatürü Tarihi: History of Military Art and Science Literature during the Ottoman Period, Vol. 2, İslâm Tarih, Sanat ve Kültür Araştırma Merkezi (IRCICA), 2004, p. 611.
  3. ↑ Spencer Tucker, Priscilla Mary Roberts, World War I: Encyclopedia, S-Z:, Vol 4, ABC-CLIO, 2005, p. 733.
  4. ↑ David Murphy, (Illustrated by Peter Dennis), The Arab Revolt 1916-18: Lawrence Sets Arabia Ablaze, Osprey Publishing, 2008, p. 27.

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